The cornerstone of building muscle is nutrition. Sure, a well laid out weight training program is a must but without an intelligent nutrition plan, it's only a matter of time before the routine stops working and you stop growing. The thing is, if you really want to build hard, lean muscle mass you need to eat a lot of clean, whole foods to support a progressive weight training program. And that's what a well laid out nutrition program does, it acts as a support system that works directly with your weight training program. As you get stronger in the weight room the more support your body will need in terms of nutrition. It's as simple as that.
The biggest problem that beginners face is making sure they're getting enough calories to support
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Given as (remember, there are 4 calories for every gram of carbohydrate):
Calories needed to gain weight x percentage of daily carbohydrates = total carbohydrate calories / calories in one gram of carbohydrate = Daily grams of carbohydrate needed to gain weight and build muscle
Using the example above:
Male
2,864 x .55 = 1,575 / 4 = 393 grams of carbohydrates are needed each day to gain weight and build muscle
Female
1,953 x .55 = 1,074 / 4 = 268 grams of carbohydrates are needed each day to gain weight and build muscle
Fat
To gain weight and build muscle, I suggest 20% of your daily calories come from fat. One gram of fat has 9 calories. Using the above example, we have:
Calories needed to gain weight x percentage of daily carbohydrates = total fat calories / calories in one gram of fat = Daily grams of fat needed to gain weight and build muscle
Using our examples from above:
Male
2,864 x .2 = 572 / 9 = 63 grams of fat needed each day to gain weight and build